Field
The described technology relates generally to an organic light emitting diode display and a manufacturing method thereof.
Description of the Related Technology
An organic light emitting diode display includes organic light emitting elements constituted by a hole injection electrode, an organic emission layer, and an electron injection electrode. Each organic light emitting element emits light by energy generated when an exciton generated by combining an electron and a hole in the organic emission layer falls from an excited state to a bottom state, and the organic light emitting diode display displays a predetermined image by using this light emission.
Since the organic light emitting diode display has a self-luminance characteristic and a separate light source is not required, unlike a liquid crystal display, a thickness and a weight thereof may be reduced. Further, since the organic light emitting diode display exhibits high quality characteristics such as low power consumption, high luminance, and rapid response speed, the organic light emitting diode display receives attention as a next generation display device.
The organic light emitting element may be deteriorated by internal factors such as deterioration of the organic emission layer by oxygen from indium tin oxide (ITO) used as the electrode material, and deterioration by a reaction between interfaces of organic material layers constituting the organic emission layer, and may be deteriorated by external factors such as external moisture, oxygen, or ultraviolet rays (UV). Particularly, since external oxygen and moisture significantly affect a life-span of the organic light emitting element, a packaging technology for sealing the organic light emitting element is very important.
The organic light emitting element needs to be thinly manufactured and/or to be manufactured so as to be easily bent so that the organic light emitting element is applied to various applications. A thin film encapsulation (TFE) technology has been developed in order to manufacture the organic light emitting element, which is thin and bendable. The thin film encapsulation technology is a technology in which one or more inorganic layers and organic layers are alternately laminated on the organic light emitting elements formed in a display region of a substrate to cover the display region with a thin film encapsulation layer. The organic light emitting diode display having the thin film encapsulation layer may be easily bent and is advantageous to slimness in the case where the substrate is formed of a flexible film.
The organic light emitting element including a flexible film as the substrate may be damaged during a manufacturing process (for example, a cutting process and the like) because the organic light emitting element is vulnerable to external impact. As described above, a structure of an organic light emitting element that can prevent damage due to a process accompanying the impact, and a manufacturing method thereof are required.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the described technology and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.